By Greg Torode

HONG KONG, Oct 30 (Reuters) – When a U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer sailed close to certainly one of Beijing’s synthetic islands within the disputed South China Sea this week, it was working in a maritime area bristling with Chinese ships.

While the U.S. Navy is anticipated to maintain its technological edge in Asia for many years, China’s potential trump card is sheer weight of numbers, with dozens of naval and coastguard vessels routinely deployed within the South China Sea.

Asian and U.S. naval officers say encounters with Chinese vessels, as soon as comparatively uncommon, at the moment are frequent, even on the outer edges of the controversial nine-dash line Beijing makes use of to stake its declare to 90 p.c of the waterway.

Such encounters will solely improve after U.S. officers mentioned the U.S. Navy would conduct common freedom-of-navigation operations akin to the patrol by the USS Lassen, which penetrated the 12-nautical-mile territorial restrict of Subi Reef within the Spratly archipelago on Tuesday.

“They are everywhere … and are always very keen to let you know they are there,” mentioned one U.S. naval officer in Asia, requesting anonymity, referring to the Chinese Navy and coastguard.

“If you’re in the South China Sea, you can expect to be shadowed.”

In an precise battle, the U.S. technological benefit might be essential, however China’s numerical superiority needed to be taken into consideration, notably in any stand-off at sea, safety consultants mentioned.

Chinese warships adopted the USS Lassen because it moved by the Spratlys.

While the vessels stored their distance, China’s endurance might be examined by repeated challenges to the 12-nautical-mile limits Beijing successfully claims round its seven man-made islands, consultants mentioned.

Beijing rebuked Washington over the patrol, calling within the U.S. ambassador to protest. U.S. officers have repeatedly mentioned the United States would fly and sail anyplace worldwide legislation allowed.

Despite the tensions, the 2 navies held talks on Thursday, and a U.S. official mentioned each side agreed to take care of dialogue and comply with protocols to keep away from clashes.

With one airstrip accomplished and two extra beneath building, China’s man-made islands will give Beijing a springboard to increase energy deep into maritime Southeast Asia and past. Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan and Malaysia additionally maintain fortified islands and reefs within the Spratlys.

HOMEFIELD ADVANTAGE

A Pentagon examine printed in April confirmed that China’s South Sea Fleet, which deploys within the South China Sea, was the biggest of the nation’s three fleets with 116 vessels.

It mentioned China additionally had greater than 200 coastguard ships over 500 tonnes, together with many above 1,000 tonnes. China’s coastguard fleet alone dwarves these of Asian rivals mixed.

The U.S. Seventh Fleet by comparability operates 55 vessels, together with the USS Ronald Reagan plane provider strike group, from its base in Yokosuka, Japan, the place it covers the Western Pacific and far of the Indian Ocean.

“China has homefield advantage,” mentioned Sam Bateman, a retired Australian naval officer and an adviser to Singapore’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies.

“At any given time they’ve got the numbers … and quantity not quality can be important in some situations”, together with confronting perceived intruders, he mentioned.

Bateman and another regional safety analysts imagine U.S. warships might discover themselves surrounded if China sought to stop future freedom-of-navigation patrols.

Some Chinese analysts have warned of blocking and ramming operations towards U.S. warships, in line with reviews in China’s state media.

Standard guidelines of engagement imply U.S. vessels can be reluctant to open hearth and danger escalation, forcing them to withdraw, Bateman mentioned.

The U.S. Navy had no remark.

But Navy Secretary Ray Mabus has made rising the variety of ships within the U.S. Navy a precedence in recent times. In many speeches he has mentioned: “Quantity has a quality all its own”.

FIXTURE IN HOTSPOTS

China’s presence within the South China Sea has grown steadily, regional naval officers say, reflecting an enlargement of the South Sea Fleet and the merging of varied legislation enforcement companies right into a unified coastguard.

While the coastguard performs many conventional patrolling duties of the navy within the South China Sea, advances in Chinese radar means the navy is rarely far-off, they are saying.

Analysts and naval officers who’ve seen satellite tv for pc photos of the South China Sea over the previous two years have described Chinese vessels maintaining a semi-permanent presence at a number of disputed areas.

The listing consists of the Scarborough Shoal and Second Thomas Shoal off the Philippines, a number of remoted shoals within the Paracel islands to the north of the Spratlys, and the South Luconia Shoals off the Sarawak coast of Malaysia.

The Chinese Navy has additionally staged high-profile patrols off James Shoal near Malaysia.

Scott Bentley, a researcher on the Australian Defence Force Academy who has studied the South Luconia scenario, mentioned China had rotated coastguard vessels to take care of an virtually fixed presence there since January 2013.

“China is now for the first time in history not only clearly claiming the entirety of the nine-dash line, but is actively attempting to enforce its expansive claims within that area,” he wrote just lately.

(Reporting by Greg Torode in Hong Kong; Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard in Beijing, Martin Petty in Hanoi and Andrea Shalal in Washington; Editing by Dean Yates)

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